from Paris landmarks to Panama City special people and occasion

For an abrupt change, try spending a few days in Raleigh after being in Europe for a few weeks, then fly on to Panama City.  Yes, latitude matters - it is hot here. Grandchildren matter too. We have been well greeted. Patt celebrated her birthday with cake and Raleigh - soon to be four years old. Who is a bit of a messy eater of cake.

But his eating does not hold a candle to younger brother Clinton, who at 10 months thinks he can feed himself.  So do other members of the family, remaining nameless, nonetheless, he is the messiest eater of the clan.

made my case

 "Who, me? no, not me! says Clinton.

Clinton eventually got interested in a pot at the end of the counter,  naturally so did Raleigh, who climbed up on the counter to investigate to see if his brother had something going.

He did, and water play ensued.

Learning to cruise and take things out of cabinets.

He really does smile, have to make a point of getting a photo of one.

And since Granddaddy is in town stay up late and catch the Hornets and Heat in the playoffs.

Life is good even if it is early in the first half.

Paris Landmarks

Today we intentionally went to some of the sure thing "landmarks" of Paris. Subway ride and up the stairs and there it is. Impressive too. Napoleon knew how to honor himself and the country - somewhat confusing the two — in 1920 an unknown soldier from the graves in Verdun was moved here to the middle of the Arc D'Triumph.  

In 1920 an unknown soldier from the graves in Verdun, was moved here to the middle of the Arc D'Triumph.

Another of the landmarks was the Eiffel Tower. I did not think climbing it would be so special, but we did to the first level. And I am putting that act in the group of my top five things we have seen/ done in Paris. It was just special to me to "climbing the "Eiffel Tower"  — Musee d'Orsay was  another, Rodin another, dining in Paris another. 

Looking up is impressive, by the time you move far away to take a photo, it loses some of what makes it look so good. Besides you have seen better photos that I got.

We ate lunch at a small cafe on this street. The view gives you an idea of how imposing the tower really is.  

 View of Seine River from the first level of the tower.

And we walked past here, Notre Dame Cathedral, many times as it was so close to our hotel. Inside we did not think as impressive as some of the other churches or cathedrals we had seen, but it is big and full of people.

Charlemagne's associate looks fierce, the battle ax is fierce looking to but at wrong angle to see in this photo. Converted photo to black and white to get some contrast for features of the associate.

We did stop by the Musee d'Orangerie to see the Impressionists, particularly the "Water Lilies" by Monet.  They are a series of four extremely long paintings that compliment one another that are somewhat like a circle.  

and had lunch at another landmark - a street side cafe. Actually not the first time we stopped at one but first for a full meal.

It was quite nice. And they really are quite ubiquitous in the parts of Paris that we were in.

and we are looking forward to coming back again.

as tomorrow we head back home.

Paris Museums

We have seen some National Monuments and National Museums. The D'Orsay and the Louvre. Both are large and both have some art you have seen in books and in prints. First the Pantheon, built to memorialize the motto of the French Republic, Liberty Equality Fraternity. It houses the remains of great Frenchmen and women and statutes and murals depicting heroes of the revolution and of the national ideals.

As we are staying quite close we often walk past it and at night it is imposing too.

One of the crypts is for the author of Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.

 Heroes of the revolution.

In Musee d'Orsay, the great hall contains statue after statue, many quite stunning, quite beautiful, but oh so hard to photograph, for me anyway.
 

 But I did get a pretty good one of this Monet. And one of my favorites too.

Both of us really like this French realist, Leon Lhermitte, Paying the Harvesters. We had never seen it before. It is a very large painting and such power it projects and ethos in the faces of the two working men the one in the foreground and the one standing in the background. It became one of our favorites.  

In the Louvre there are halls, and halls of statues, and rooms and rooms, of statues, artifacts, paintings and more. This is also the only room that we saw that was not full of people. It was a rainy day and everyone decided to go to the Louvre with us.

Patt got a real good photo of Venus de Milo, found on the Greek Island of Milos in the early 1800s but dated from 120 BC, unknown sculptor.  Truly beautiful, but in person, more rough looking from the rough handling of being knocked down and covered in debris I guess than I had imagined. Still beautiful, but not "air brushed" and hence I guess even more human like and therefore more enchanting.

Many of the ceilings are painted and decorated as the Louvre is housed in a former palace (actually a series of palaces connected and enlarged over centuries). Here in the Hall of Napoleon - and of course it is symbolic too, we had the recorded guide - - type in a number, listen to a recording about what you are looking at. We could be there years.

Some of the paintings were seriously 20' x 30' - this one was not, but note the man looking closely standing at lower left for scale.

And the famous painting of the French revolution of Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix. There was a lot of the revolutionary art in one of the halls.

Oh and the collections of fine things, here are some of Napoleon's I think, fine gold and stone ware.  There were crowns and lots of jewelry too.

People taking photos of the Mona Lisa, and taking selfies of themselves with the Moan Lisa about 20 feet away to the right. I have a small photo of the Mona Lisa taken with an iPhone from about 20 feet away.  I will spare you.

We would love to come again and often to both museums. And these are just two of the multiple museums that are here. 

Rodin and Napoleon

Several years ago the North Carolina Museum of Art had an exposition of Rodin's work that was on tour from Musee Rodin in Paris. It was but a few pieces of his work, some casts, and models. We were impressed. Today we went to the Musee Rodin.  We were very impressed.  

From looking at and reading and hearing about these eight men -The Burgers of Calais - it is apparent, to me at least, that Rodin thought a great deal of these men, who they were, what they had done for their city and at what great peril they offered their lives. There are many partial pieces of this bronze work as Rodin worked to get it just as he wanted, multiples of each individual, and sometimes of just a hand or head. It is my favorite Rodin piece - and there are a lot of them too.

Hint for the day, avoid the Gates of Hell. If they resemble Rodin's image, it does not look good for the other side of those doors. (little known fact- the Thinker is actually part of this image — look top center just under the three men— who are not celebrating).

The Thinker and other noted pieces are taken from this piece and done separately as large bronze works - placed in the garden surrounding the former mansion where Rodin lived and worked. As are the individuals in the Burgers of Calais, each done individually. The works in this museum are overwhelming.

Next to the Musee Rodin is the Musee de Armee. We skipped the cavernous halls of the great buildings in the museum, (mostly they contain rows of weapons and uniforms from the looking we did). We went through to the Chapel. We did notice the serious visage of Napoleon looking down on us. These buildings were originally built as a retirement home for soldiers by King Louis XIV in the late 1600s.

This is the front of the Church of the Dome, originally built by one of the later King Louis's, this is not a full fledged cathedral or church, just a chapel attached to the church built for the soldiers - the dome is the separate entrance for the kings.

In the main body of the Chapel hang flags taken from the field of battle from victories over centuries past. The only insignia I recognized was what appeared to be a German Iron Cross from what would have been World War I but after the first months of 1914, any use of battle flags and such would have surely stopped is my guess as we saw no evidence of their use in the trench warfare of the Western Front.  Of course the Iron Cross is not a new symbol either.  

Napoleon's mausoleum. That is about 16 feet high if I remember correctly, marble, and encloses about four or five nested caskets. Napoleon died in 1821 and his body was moved 20 years later from St. Helena where he was in exile for the last six years of his life. 

In the museum there was a temporary exhibit of household items from the Island of St. Helena house that he lived in including one of Napoleon's uniforms. The exhibit is here on loan while the house he lived in is being repaired. The items then go back to St. Helena. It is far far away in the ocean off the west coast of Africa. Look on a map.

In addition to the exhibit about Napoleon's home in exile, we saw bit of the exhibit on Charles de Gaulle. A great documentary film about his life. He had such an impact on modern France and was an historical figure that we can well remember.  

Paris - and hard for us to believe too.

We keep saying to ourselves, "yes, we are here -in Paris."  It is spring — and someone spent time planting flowers in the Jardin de Luxembourg.  This is close to our Excelsior Hotel, 20 Rue Cujas, google the address.  A terrific location, next to the Sorbonne, just two blocks down the street from the Pantheon - and—  and ...

And in the Jardin des Tuileries — between the Louvre Museum and the Palace de la Concorde -  there is a virtual garden of statutes. This is Hannibal and me. Some are of Roman or Greek personages, others depictions of Greco-Roman Gods.

Yes, on a bridge over the Seine River, and the cloudy backdrop portends the type of day it was - got colder and darker, but no rain. Weather has been colder than normal and the blue sky very infrequent - just broken portions most of the time.

In the Jardins or gardens there is a great deal of art. Stuck off in corners or right slap in the middle.  For the Jardins, think the Mall in Washington. The  Tuileries is about the same size as the Mall in Washington DC (guess), the Luxembourg not quite (guess).

And guess who continues to enjoy eating. We have walked a lot so I think I am OK on the poundage issue. That was one good bowl of soup.

On this trip we have heard of Clovis, various Kings Charles, seemingly dozens of Louis's, a couple of Napoleons and no one has mentioned Charlemagne yet. Ta Da! There he is — gotta get a day time photo but he looks fierce and the guys holding his horse would scare a Visigoth.

and he is right beside Notre Dame Cathedral, yes Paris has one too. It is but a short walk from our hotel and so nice looking.